Lamp holder



Dec. 10, 1968 s. IRVINE LAMP HOLDER Filed March 22, 1961 ///s Ala/225g United States Patent 3,416,124 LAMP HOLDER Stuart Irvine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Canadian General Electric Company Limited, Toronto,

Ontario, Canada, a corporation of Canada Filed Mar. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 97,670 1 Claim. (Cl. 339117) The invention relates to lamp holders and more particularly to lamp holders adapted for use in an outdoor floodlight unit.

It is necessary for outdoor floodlight units to be provided with lamp holders that are adapted to prevent moismm from entering the interior housing the electrical contacts in order to prevent short-circuiting. It has been the practice to avoid having any openings in the lamp holder except where essential. A rubber gasket is usually used to seal 01f the opening into which the lamp is fitted. While such lamp holders work satisfactorily, it would be desirable to provide a lamp holder which did not require the use of a separate gasket. These lighting units are usually sold individually for residential lighting and come equipped with a power supply cord and connector. For most residential lighting applications, such as Christmas decorations, several such lighting units must be employed. Consequently, extension cords are necessary to which the more remote units may be connected and several electrical outlets are required to which each unit may be connected. This results in a great array of electrical cords stretched around the grounds surrounding the home.

It is, therefore, the object of this invention to provide a novel lamp holder of simple construction which is waterproof and which does not require the use of separate sealing elements.

It is further the object of this invention to provide a novel lamp holder with provision for the interconnection of several such lamp holders in a single electrical circuit.

In accomplishment of the foregoing objects, I have provided a lamp holder which comprises a casing split longitudinally to form complementary base and cover members. The casing includes a substantially cylindrical portion which houses the electrical terminal contacts and also the means for securing a lamp having a threaded base, and a portion having an open end flaring outwardly so as to accommodate the substantially conical neck portion of a lamp. Bosses are located on opposite sides of the cylindrical casing portion to provide recesses for receiving terminal contacts. One of the bosses, preferably located on the underside of the casing, is provided with apertures communicating with the terminal contact recesses into which connector plug prongs may be inserted. Finally, means in the form of holes are provided in the base member of the casing so as to drain any moisture that may have entered the casing.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the outdoor floodlight unit,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the inside of the cover member of the lamp holder casing on an enlarged scale,

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the outside of the base member of the lamp holder casing, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electrical terminal contacts and the supply cord.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing the outdoor floodlight unit essentially comprises a projector lamp 10, a lamp holder casing formed of two complementary members, namely a cover member 11 and a base member 12 which are preferably made of a moulded insulating material such as, for example, a phenolic resin. The base member 12 is connected in a suitable manner by means of a bracket 13 to a mounting plate 14 and/ or a ground spike 15. A supply cord 16 terminating in a connector plug 17 enables the unit to be connected to a source of electrical energy. The lamp holder casing is provided at its closed end with bosses 18 and 19 which are located diametrically opposite each other on cover member 11 and base member 12. Boss 19 includes a built-in plug outlet which permits interconnection with another floodlight unit. Base member 12 includes further a fin 20 by which the lamp holder casing is secured to the bracket 13 by a suitable screw means 21. Finally the mounting plate 14 secured to the other end of bracket 13 is furnished with a slot 22, a knock-out 23 and an eyelet 24 adapting the plate to be mounted on a wall, a board or the like.

The structure of the lamp holder casing is illustrated on an enlarged scale in FIGS. 2 and 3. The casing includes a substantially cylindrical portion 25 which houses electrical terminal contacts and threads for securing the lamp, and an open-ended portion 26 flaring outwardly which straddles the substantially conical neck portion of the projection lamp. As shown on cover member 11 in FIG. 2, the space enclosed by casing portion 25 is divided by a wall 27 into compartments 28 and 29. Compartment 28 houses terminal contacts 20 and 31 connected to the supply cord 16 which is admitted through an aperture 32. Compartment 29 has its walls threaded so that when base and cover members are assembled, a receptacle is formed for receiving the threaded base of the projector lamp. Two slots 33 and 34 are provided in wall 27. Slot 34 is adapted to receive the center contact 30, one end of which rests behind a projection 35 and the other end is bent at an angle and seated at the bottom of the lamp receptacle. A second contact member 31 is arranged to be placed in slot 33 whereby one end rests behind a projection 36 and the other end extends along the wall of the receptacle to engage the contact shell of a lamp base and terminates in a notch 37. Base member 12 (FIG. 3) is provided with draining holes 38 and 39. In the assembled state cover member 11 and base member 12 are secured together by holding pins (not shown) to be inserted into holes 40 and 41 and a screw extending through aligned holes 42 and 43. Finally, a flange portion 44 extends along the rim of cover member 11 and is provided with a lip projecting perpendicularly downwards from the flange edge so as to prevent the entrance of moisture into the assembled lamp holder casing.

The arrangement of contact members 30 and 31 in the lamp holder casing is more clearly illustrated in the perspective view of FIG. 4. Each contact member comp-rises a strip 30a and 31a to which are connected at a substantially right angle, strips 30b and 31b. Arms 45 and 46 of the strips 30b and 31b respectively, are adapted to be secured to conductor wires 47 and 48 respectively of supply cord 16 and inserted into recesses extending into boss 18. Arms 49 and 50 are bent back into a U-shaped configuration so as to provide spring contact portions which are inserted into recesses extending into boss 19 and communicating with the exterior via apertures 51 and 52 thereby providing a connector plug receptacle. The end of supply cord 16 is furnished with a slightly conical end piece 53 having a groove 54 in which portions of cover and members 11 and 12 project in the assembled state so as to provide a strain relief and a watertight seal.

In assembling the lamp holder, the contact members 30 and 31 connected to the supply cord 16, as shown in FIG. 4, are inserted, for instance, into the provided slots and recesses of cover member 11 as illustrated in FIG. 2. After holding pins are inserted into the holes 40 and 41 of cover member 11, the base member 12 is placed in position over cover member 11 so that when the base and cover member are pressed together, the holding pins enter respective holes in base member 12 and the U-shaped contact arms 49 and 50 enter the recesses that terminate in the connector plug receptacle apertures 51 and 52. A screw inserted into the aligned holes 42 and 43 and secured by a nut concludes the assembly of the lamp holder. It is obvious that the assembly could have been started by inserting the contact members 30 and 31 into the provided slots and recesses of base member 12 and finished by placing cover member 11 over base member 12.

As the stripcontact members extend substantially in a longitudinal direction through the lamp holder casing and generally along the junction line of the cover and base members, and as the draining holes 38 and 39 are located in the cylindrical and the flaring portion of the lamp holder at a very low level when the floodlight unit is in its operating position. it is apparent that water or moisture entering the lamp holder is drained off through those holes before it can accumulate to a level where it could cause a short circuit. Further, the arrangement of the connector plug receptacle apertures 51 and 52 at the underside of lamp holder casing also avoids the entry of water or moisture into the interior of the casing. Finally, the provision of a built-in outlet on the floodlight unit permits the plugging in of an additional unit so that a series of units may be electrically connected together whereby the electrical energy is supplied from only one power outlet and only a relatively short length of supply cord is required with each fioodlight unit.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A combination lampholder and outlet for outdoor fioodlight units comprising a casing split longitudinally to provide a complementary,

apertured base, and

aperture-free cover member,

said casing being divided by a laterally extending wall into a closed end electrical connection compartment, and

an open ended lamp receiving compartment,

said wall having electrodes extending therethrough generally along the split line of said cover and base for contact with a lamp base received in said open ended compartment,

the base of said casing having at least one moisture drain aperture in the open ended compartment,

said casing having fin means depending from the external base wall of said open ended compartment,

said casing having plug receptacle apertures through the base wall of said closed end compartment,

electrical power supply cord extending through the wall of said closed end compartment at the split line of said cover and base said cord being electrically connected to said electrodes and to terminal contacts aligned with said plug receptacle apertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,760,570 5/1930 Thompson 339-163 1,832,044 11/1931 Muldoon 339- X 1,878,230 9/1932 Morris 339- 117 X 1,882,791 10/1932 Ferris 339-159 X 1,941,488 l/1934 Propp 339163 X 1,955,854 4/1934 Linville 339117 X 2,673,286 3/1954 Moore 240-11.2 2,795,690 6/1957 Cooper 240-3 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

J. R. MOSES, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 339-208, 159 

1. A COMBINATION LAMPHOLDER AND OUTLET FOR OUTDOOR FLOODLIGHT UNITS COMPRISING A CASING SPILT LONGITUDINALLY TO PROVIDE A COMPLEMENTARY, APERTURED BASE, AND APERTURE-FREE COVER MEMBER, SAID CASING BEING DIVIDED BY A LATERALLY EXTENDING WALL INTO A CLOSED END ELECTRICAL CONNECTION COMPARTMENT, AND AN OPEN ENDED LAMP RECEIVING COMPARTMENT, SAID WALL HAVING ELECTRODES EXTENDING THERETHROUGH GENERALLY ALONG THE SPLIT LINE OF SAID COVER AND BASE FOR CONTACT WITH A LAMP BASE RECEIVED IN SAID OPEN ENDED COMPARTMENT, THE BASE OF SAID CASING HAVING AT LEAST ONE MOISTURE DRAIN APERTURE IN THE OPEN ENDED COMPARTMENT, 